FAculty Salary and Budget Committee

Minutes of February 6, 2009

Present:Ed Aboufadel, Princewill Anyalbechi, Teresa Bacon-Baguley, Aaron Baxter, Lawrence Burns (Vice Chair), Douglas Busman, Marinus DeBruine, Lynell DeWind, Gregg Dimkoff, Milt Ford, Joe Godwin (ex officio), Fran Kelleher, Claudia Leiras-Laubach, Donijo Robbins (Chair), Paul Stephenson, Patrick Thorpe, Xandra Xu

Guests: Lindsey Des Armo, Dave Smith

  1. The Meeting was Called to Order at 11:56 am
  2. Dave Smith and Lindsey Des Armo presented an update on the Health and Wellness Initiative, and addressed questions raised at the last FSBC meeting.
    Additional questions were posed from the floor including: a request for a further breakdown of the data, what role does the offering of incentives play in participation; length of the retention of records; and, whether GV’s HR office has approval power to override an insurance company denial of payment for various tests.
  3. Announcements
    The Chair reported that the FSBC memo on new program review will be addressed at the next ECS meeting on February 13, 2009.
    The Chair reported that she received an email from Jon Jellema regarding assigned time.
    Joe Godwin reported that Provost Davis has asked the Dean’s to review the assigned time practice in their colleges. There are currently 861 credit hours of assigned time given to those who are not chairs, department heads, etc. with approximately 50 faculty on re-assigned time. The Provost also asked the Deans to review significant focus areas in their college.

The Chair reported that the Provost is hosting several ‘Conversations with Faculty and Staff” to answer questions raised at the Town Hall meetings in the Fall Semester. Joe Godwin reported that Provost Davis looks forward to continued discussion with faculty and encourages all faculty members to attend.
Joe Godwin reported that various budget models are in development to address a governor-mandated tuition freeze in addition to the expected cut in state appropriation money.
Joe Godwin distributed a revised per diem schedule which is expected to be presented to the Board of Trustees at their next meeting. In addition to regular distribution methods, this change will be distributed via the Annual Salary Newsletter.

  1. The Chair reported that she was asked if a reduction in the number of college representatives is warranted. After discussion it was agreed that this falls outside the purview of FSBC with no further action taken.
  2. The Chair reported that language regarding Family Leave and Pausing the Tenure Clock is being worked on in the FPPC and HRO. Further information will be distributed when it is received.
  3. The Chair reported that comparison data on Promotional increases has been postedon the FSBC BlackBoard site.
  4. There was discussion on what to include in the Annual Salary newsletter in addition to: Salary changes; Benefit changes; Salary adjustment and inflation; CUPA comparisons; Promotional increases, including comparison with other universities.
    Additional items for consideration include: per diem increase; graphic distribution of raises; acknowledgement of the uncertain economic times and willingness to be flexible; inform colleagues that a regular sharing of information occurs between FSBC and Administration. Rumors to squelch include: the myth faculty can voluntarily not take a raise, and a 5% pay cut is planned.

It was noted that should GV receive the average appropriation funding – instead of the lowest – tuition could be lowered by 20% or more.

  1. The annual luncheon with Provost Davis is scheduled for Friday, April 3, 2009.
  1. Adjournment 1:41pm